Caray, Caray!

Rerun: Gav's jealous, sarcastic hissy fit confronting Rod and his "best psychologist in the country," said psychologist caught with her hands in the masa, in a sexy dress and tons of makeup. "Ah, Doctora, I so appreciate your excellent professional techniques, which have included long weekends away with your patient, and dinner in expensive restaurants. And Rod, y'oughter marry this woman who cured you of me." Erika looks embarrassed.

Gav flounces out, Rod in pursuit, and there is another tedious rehash of grievances. He says he lost a piece of his life that day she told him to get lost. "I thought I'd died, I needed Erika so I could heal, I was going to hell, I kept asking 'Why, Gaviota?' but gradually I saw I didn't know how to love you, I made so many mistakes, I made so many wrong decisions in my demented jealousy. I was a romantic imbecile, I hurt both of us."

She taunts him: "Changing your life must have been easy with her." "You think it was easy to stop calling you? To tell myself you were better off with Blandie, that smart, cultured, successful guy with a great future, a guy who doesn't make scandalous scenes? Your life is all set and mine is in pieces, I can't pick them up. Remember when I said I'd be back when my life was together? That moment seems farther away all the time..." (she cries)

This tiresome exchange is interrupted by the waitress: "Lady, you didn't pay your bill." Rod says he'll pay, Gav says no, he says don't be stubborn. He pays.

In relentless resumption of the never-ending dispute: Gav says she's giving the hacienda back to the Montalvos tomorrow. "No, keep it, don't let Aaron have what's yours." "I want nothing from your family. Anyway, in conclusion, I'm glad you have a good companion. I'll pray you find the peace you seek." She leaves.

Rod drags hisself back into the restaurant where poor abandoned Dr. Erika is paying the bill. She says she thought he might not have been coming back, and that she understood Gav's outburst. "We better think everything through carefully." He agrees.

At the hacienda, SanJuana is agressively rehashing the latest gossip from the Big House with James, Roman and Ofelia as unwilling audience. She gleefully blabs that Isa cuckolded Rod with Hilario, too, and that Hilario asked her to go away with him.

Conversations between Clarita and Gaviota never advance the plot. "It's all over, he's exchanged me for another, como asi" is plenty of recap for the first bit. Second bit: "L'il Ricky is Jose's grandson. Aww screw it, let's move to London." "What about my hacienda?" "Clarita, it's not like I want to tell you what to do with your stuff, but - we'll give it to charity. As of today, I bury Rodrigo."

Gav imagines Rod and Dr Erika as having a romantic night; actually each is brooding alone in a dark room.

In his dark room, Rod summons Enriqueta, the maid, and summarily fires her because he is closing the apartment and selling it - and everything in it - to erase all traces of Isadora. "Your check's in the envelope. If I ever get my life back together, I'll give you a call." Thus do the lower classes suffer when the upper classes boink irresponsibly.

Next morning, Gav does not arrive at CRT at 6 in the morning as she'd promised Blandie (he'd wanted another all-nighter to finish some of his always-top-priority lists lists lists of whatever). Blandie is running around all peeved and yelling NANCY NANCY NANCY!! Nancy whispers to Gav, "He's wearing yesterday's clothes, he's been working all night." "Nancy, I had a dog's night, I didn't sleep, ok, where are those numbers?"

Suddenly, here's Aaron, all menacing! He sends Nancy away. Gav says she knows what he wants but she still refuses his demand that she sign over the hacienda to him. He says he knows Rodrigo wants her to have Mirasoles as compensation for her "services." She says "Your tongue is longer than an iguana's."

Aaron: "Y'all have no rights to any of grandfather's property. I guess HE was compensating your mother for HER services. I'll sue! I'd forgotten how unscrupulous and voracious you are."

She slaps him and says "Bring on the lawyers, you'll never get Las Mirasoles." He slaps her right back and glares izpodlobya which is a cool Russian word meaning "out from under the eyebrows."

Gaviota's in the midst of a furious fantasy, involving hair pulling and worse abuse, when Blandie blunders in nattering about xeroxes. He inquires rhetorically: "Do I have to do everything myself?" She says she had a bad night and snatches the notebook. "I had a bad night too," complains Blandie accusingly. He interrogates Nancy: "Gav saw Rod last night, didn't she, did she talk to him?"

Rod to Videgaray: "Sell the apartment, the furniture, I want nothing to remind me of her." "Duarte called, he knew nothing about Isa's doings and was indignant at her behavior, he gave me a message for you - he's sorry, but he can't keep his word, he can't pay you back now, but he'll pay every cent some day." Oh, yeah. Rod will give a good chunk of change to Isa in order to keep legal rights to L'il Ricky, for whom his love is unchanged. He wants to keep being Rickie's legal father.

Simultaneously, Isa is telling her lawyer she wants L'il Rickie to have his Real Father's name. The real father is sitting next to her in sunglasses and a mostly-unbuttoned shirt, looking like a juvenile delinquent wannabe. She says that, since L'il Rickie is a pawn in the Montalvo winner-takes-all varon sweepstakes, the Montalvos would end up stripping him of their name anyway. She'd rather have the lawyer concentrate on grabbing for her the biggest possible share of Rod's goodies.

Frankie interrupts to ask about fees. The lawyer requires a goodly sum up front and a percentage of the take. Frankie offers lists of all the income the hacienda produces, the better to divvy it up between man and ex-wife. "When you have the list for me, we'll contact Rod's lawyer." "Please hurry," pleads Isa, "our financial situation is desperate."

Then she takes L'il Baby and Big Baby and goes to a jeweler to sell her baubles. The jeweler says "They're great, but I can give you only half the price you paid." She acts all surprised. [Somebody with better eyes or a bigger tv, tell me - what exactly is Frankie looking at inside his unbuttoned shirt? HIS jewels? Is he admiring his own nipples? -Ed.] Isa's for leaving to find another jeweler but Frankie stops her, saying, "This is the third jeweler who's told us the same thing. We need the money. Tomorrow, I promise to get with my 'contacts' and find work. Trust me." They take the dough.

Rod is concluding with Videgaray, asking him to find Clarita and Gaviota, when Aaron bursts in shouting "Gaviota said she doesn't want Las Mirasoles, so when can I have it?" "No, Aaron - Grammie, my sisters and I all want to comply with Gramps' will." "You may have that stupid romantic idea, but I think completely differently, completely rationally!" [Aaron screams in non-rational fashion. I look around to see if there's a cellphone he could throw. -- Ed.]

"Anyway, why give Mariana Franco the hacienda if she's going to live in London?" Rod is impactado. Aaron, delighted to be the one to give the news, says she's going with her gorgeous boss.

Jose hyperventilates when she hears that Li'l Rickie is her grandson.

The Doctorcito is having a temper tantrum against Gaviota, which he shows by addressing all his annoying orders to Nancy instead. "I want to work with somebody who isn't tired," he snottily explains.

As Gav follows him into his office a cascade of complaints and resentments ensue, throttled only by her second iteration of this dramatic vow: "I'll go with you to London!" [Now folks, as a former child-rearer and current donkey trainer, I have skills applicable to dealing with the Doctorcito! I say Gav should not reward his bad behavior. She should wait until he behaves nicely before rewarding him or he'll think tantrums are good. --Ed.]

With Gav's announcement, the sun comes out! Blandie is all smiles and running around in a happy dance and "NANCY NANCY NANCY tell Av* the good news!" He inquires in an annoying, falsely self-deprecating manner: "Do you really want to go away with your inhuman, bad-humored boss?" "True, sometimes I want to strangle you." He promises to improve.

He tells Nancy they'll bag the rest of their work and go celebrate, but she starts crying (get that girl a Paxil) and says she doesn't have any reason to celebrate.

I especially wanted to punch him when he concluded, "Gaviota, you've made the best decision of your life." Later he tells her she can't change her mind at the last minute this time. "Doctor, there's nothing keeping me here - my thing with Rodrigo is over."

Rod gives Margarita a bunch of work and then tries to find out how Gaviota knew which expensive restaurant he'd be in with Doctor Erika. Margarita admits it was she who spilled the beans and promises not to do it again. He's pleased to hear how very interested Gav had been in all things Erika.

Gav tells Clarita what's been going on. Clarita suggests they give the hacienda to La Beneficion (a nunnery maybe?).

After the commercials Minerva shows up at Aaron's office with pictures of her sonograms - she is 16 weeks pregnant with Aaron Jr.

Aaron Sr. thinks it's a joke, or that she bought these sonograms, but no, they're the real thing. She says they have to be very careful because the doctor told her this was the last pregnancy she'd ever have. [Que the hell?]

Then Aaron has two surprises for Minerva. Number one: As of the next day his old man is signing over the corporation and Aaron will own it completely. Number two: Aaron Jr. has no competition in the Montalvo Varon Sweepstakes.

Minerva immediately assumes that Aaron has murdered L'il Ricky. However, she's just as happy to hear the real reason Rickie's been scratched from the race: "Isa wasn't inseminated, she got pregnant by more - natural - means, it was Pancho de la Vega, the both of them have been thrown out."

By habit, Minerva starts complaining: "With Isa out of the way, Rod can run to the husband-robber!" Aaron says no worries, the home team now has an unbeatable head start, and anyway, Gaviota is off to London with Blandie.

Then Minerva worries Aaron Jr. might turn out to be a girl but Aaron Sr. sez "NO! Cause we're on a lucky streak."

Showing some sense, Isa is telling Pancho they need to conserve their resources but he, hypnotized by the wad of cash from the jewelry store, wafts past her to the phone and orders a bottle of the best champagne to celebrate. [Frankie's time horizon is short. -Ed.]

Finally Rod arrives at Dr. Erika's place and starts telling her what a great gal she is and how she restored him and [I think] proved to him he could get it up for another woman, and she's just the woman he'd fall in love with, but he's already in love - with Gaviota.

Thursday: Latin Grammies. Friday: Rodrigo, in fine old style, yells at Aaron: "Tell the whole family what you said about Clarita and how you threatened her!" and later whacks and smashes a vase of roses, multiple times, over a car window, snarling and shouting; Dr. Blandie tells Gav he'll teach her to love him, and kisses her; in response Gaviota looks like a cockroach flew into her mouth.

Labels: Destilando